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The Guardian

Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

Oil prices jump as Iran war threatens shipping through strait of Hormuz

Brent crude rose by 13% during early trading and stock markets came under pressure as US-Israeli strikes on Iran raised fears of disruption

Oil prices soared and stock markets came under pressure on Monday after intense US-Israeli strikes on Iran prompted fears of significant global economic disruption.

Brent crude jumped by as much as 13% during early trading – to hit $82 per barrel, a 14-month high – as the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz, one of the most important arteries for global trade, intensified concerns over oil supplies.

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Disbelief as crocodile captured in Newcastle creek thousands of kilometres from natural habitat

The juvenile freshwater crocodile was first spotted by a group of teenagers in Ironbark Creek in the Australian city on Saturday

An Australian freshwater crocodile has been captured in a city creek thousands of kilometres south of its normal range, after sightings shocked onlookers at a suburban park.

The crocodile was first spotted in Ironbark Creek in Newcastle – about 100km north of Sydney – around midday on Saturday, by a group of teenagers.

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UK to allow US to use British bases for defensive strikes against Iran

Within hours of the prime minister’s statement, the UK’s Akrotiri air force base in Cyprus was reportedly hit by a drone

The UK has agreed to let the US use British military bases to attack Iranian missile sites, Keir Starmer has said.

The UK has so far not been involved in the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, but in a recorded statement on Sunday evening, the prime minister said that Iran’s approach was becoming more reckless and putting British lives at risk, leading to the decision to allow the US to use two of its military bases.

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Ukraine war briefing: Starmer says Ukrainian experts will help shoot down Iranian drone attacks in Gulf

Ukrainians to help intercept drones targeting Gulf allies, UK PM says; Russian overnight missile attacks on Ukraine hit new high. What we know on day 1,467

The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, said Ukrainian experts would provide guidance on intercepting Iranian drones being launched at Gulf allies, as Tehran responds to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran. “We are not joining these strikes, but we will continue with our defensive actions in the region,” Starmer said on Sunday night. “And we will also bring experts from Ukraine, together with our own experts, to help Gulf partners shoot down Iranian drones attacking them.” Ukraine was yet to comment on Starmer’s announcement.

Russia fired more missiles in overnight attacks at Ukraine in February than in any other month since at least the beginning of 2023, analysis by Agence France-Presse (AFP) shows. The missile attacks targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure in particular, AFP said. Russia launched 288 missiles at Ukraine in February, an increase of about 113% compared to 135 missiles in January. Additionally, in February, Russia launched 5,059 long-range drones during its night-time pummelling of Ukrainian cities and towns – an increase of about 13% percent compared to January. AFP conducted analysis of daily figures provided by the Ukrainian air force.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said changes in Iran brought about by US and Israeli strikes should be “used properly” to benefit the country’s people. Speaking in his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said Iran had “predetermined the way it is treated” by supplying attack drones to Russia in Moscow’s four-year-old conflict in Ukraine and had also “fomented wars in the region”. “It is important that the this chance for changes in Iran be used properly,” he said, adding “Tyhe Iranian people were on their own for a long time, enduring violence while standing against the Iranian regime.” Zelenskyy said on Saturday Moscow had fired more than 57,000 Iranian-designed Shahed-type drones at Ukraine during the war.

Belgium has seized an oil tanker believed to form part of the so-called “shadow fleet” used by Russia to circumvent western sanctions over the war in Ukraine. Special forces assisted by French helicopters boarded the ship in a clandestine operation in the North Sea on Saturday night, Kate Connolly writes. Prosecutors said the tanker, identified as the Ethera, was falsely flying the flag of Guinea and was believed to be on its way back to Russia when it was seized in Belgium’s exclusive economic zone.

Zelenskyy praised Belgium’s decision to seize the tanker. “This particular vessel has long been under US, EU and UK sanctions, but nonetheless continued to illegally transport Russian oil using a false flag and forged documents,” he wrote on X. “We welcome this strong action against Moscow’s floating purse and thank France for supporting the operation.”

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DSC_7363 tiger snake, Cape Willoughby Road, Cape Willoughby, Kangaroo Island SA

JohnJennings995 has added a photo to the pool:

DSC_7363 tiger snake, Cape Willoughby Road, Cape Willoughby, Kangaroo Island SA

Cool Sea-nery (view fullscreen!)

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Cool Sea-nery (view fullscreen!)

Rocks off Bailey's, Binnalong Bay, Tas

14698 DSC_0005 Dying red hydrangea 2

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14698 DSC_0005 Dying red hydrangea 2

14696 DSC_0001 dying white hydrangea 1

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14696 DSC_0001 dying white hydrangea 1

I Was Thinking About a Woman I'd Loved

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

I Was Thinking About a Woman I'd Loved

Mingus

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Mingus

Found Photograph -- A Rochester Photographer Collection

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Found Photograph --  A Rochester Photographer Collection

Found Slide

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Found Slide

Sense of Freedom

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Sense of Freedom

Found Kodachrome Slide

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Found Photograph

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Found Photograph

Slashdot

News for nerds, stuff that matters

Norway's Consumer Council Calls for Right to Repair and Antitrust Enforcement - and Mocks 'Enshittification'

The Norwegian Consumer Council, a government funded organization advocating for consumer's rights, released a report on the trend of "enshittification" in digital consumer goods and services, suggesting ways consumers for consumers to resist. But they've also dramatized the problem with a funny four-minute video about the man whose calls for him to make things shitty for people.

"It's not just your imagination. Digital services are getting worse," the video concludes — before adding that "Luckily, it doesn't have to be this way." The Consumer Council's announcement recommends:
Stronger rights for consumers to control, adapt, repair, and alter their products and services,
Interoperability, data portability, and decentralisation as the norm, so the threshold for moving to different services becomes as low as possible,
Deterrent and vigorous enforcement of competition law, so that Big Tech companies are not allowed to indiscriminately acquire start-ups, competitors or otherwise steer the market to their advantage,
Better financing of initiatives to build, maintain or improve alternative digital services and infrastructure based on open source code and open protocols,
Reduce public sector dependence on big tech, to regain control and to contribute to a functioning market for service providers that respect fundamental rights,
Deterrent and consistent enforcement of other laws, including consumer and data protection law.


The Norwegian Consumer Council is also joining 58 organisations and experts in a letter asking the Norwegian government to rebalance power with enforcement resources and by prioritizing the procurement of services based on open source code. And "Our sister organisations are sending similar letters to their own governments in 12 countries."

They're also sending a second letter to the European Commission with 29 civil society organisations (including the EFF and Amnesty International) warning about the risks of deregulation and calling for reducing dependency on big tech.

Thanks to Slashdot reader DeanonymizedCoward for sharing the news.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Register

Biting the hand that feeds IT — Enterprise Technology News and Analysis

South Korea’s tax office apologizes for leaking seed phrase to seized crypto

Went from triumph at having busted tax dodgers to embarrassment at losing the proceeds

South Korea’s National Tax Service has apologized after it leaked passwords to a stash of stolen crypto, which parties unknown used to make off with the digi-cash.…

Palantir Sues Swiss Magazine For Accurately Reporting That The Swiss Government Didn't Want Palantir

By the way, I have just been informed that "Peter Thiel" is an anagram for "Hitler Pete".

The articles, produced in collaboration with the investigative collective WAV, detailed a years-long, multi-ministry charm offensive by Palantir to sell its software to Swiss federal authorities. The campaign was, by all accounts, a comprehensive failure. Swiss agencies rejected Palantir at least nine times, with concerns ranging from data sovereignty to reputational risk to the simple fact that nobody needed the product. [...]

So how does a sophisticated data intelligence company respond to well-sourced investigative journalism based on official government documents?

By suing the journalists, of course.

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.

Rotterdam - FediMeteo (@rotterdam@nl.fedimeteo.com)

Weer voor de stad Rotterdam Deze bot wordt beheerd door het FediMeteo-project. Voor informatie en contact kunt u de pagina https://fedimeteo.com raadplegen.

Weer voor Rotterdam ☁️ - 02-03-2026 01:15 CET...

Weer voor Rotterdam ☁️ - 02-03-2026 01:15 CET

In één oogopslag:
• 10.1°C · Bewolkt ☁️ | Min 7.2°C / Max 16.2°C

Verwachting voor vandaag:
• Min 7.2°C, Max 16.2°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1019.3 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 16.9 km/u (4.7 m/s), richting: ↑ 169°

Uurlijkse voorspelling voor de komende 12 uur:

02:00: 10.1°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1019.7 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 14.4 km/u (4.0 m/s), richting: ↑ 183°
03:00: 10.1°C (Helder) 🌕, 🧭 1019.6 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 14.8 km/u (4.1 m/s), richting: ↑ 176°
04:00: 9.1°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1019.2 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 14.4 km/u (4.0 m/s), richting: ↑ 171°
05:00: 8.2°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1019.1 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 14.8 km/u (4.1 m/s), richting: ↑ 171°
06:00: 7.6°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1018.8 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 14.4 km/u (4.0 m/s), richting: ↑ 168°
07:00: 7.3°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1018.8 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 14.4 km/u (4.0 m/s), richting: ↑ 165°
08:00: 7.2°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1018.9 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 15.5 km/u (4.3 m/s), richting: ↑ 160°
09:00: 8.0°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1019.3 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 15.8 km/u (4.4 m/s), richting: ↑ 163°
10:00: 9.4°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1019.4 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 15.8 km/u (4.4 m/s), richting: ↑ 166°
11:00: 10.9°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1019.5 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 15.5 km/u (4.3 m/s), richting: ↑ 171°
12:00: 12.5°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1019.3 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 15.5 km/u (4.3 m/s), richting: ↑ 168°
13:00: 13.8°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1019.0 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 15.8 km/u (4.4 m/s), richting: ↑ 172°

Voorspelling voor de komende dagen:

dinsdag 03 maart: Min 6.2°C, Max 13.7°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1025.0 hPa ↗️ +5.7 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 16.9 km/u (4.7 m/s), richting: ↙ 27°
woensdag 04 maart: Min 5.7°C, Max 12.9°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 1%, 🧭 1028.0 hPa ↗️ +3.0 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 14.4 km/u (4.0 m/s), richting: ← 81°
donderdag 05 maart: Min 5.3°C, Max 15.6°C (Zonnig) ☀️, Kans op neerslag 10%, 🧭 1020.9 hPa ↘️ -7.1 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 10.8 km/u (3.0 m/s), richting: ↖ 125°
vrijdag 06 maart: Min 6.4°C, Max 16.0°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 13%, 🧭 1021.1 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 8.7 km/u (2.4 m/s), richting: ↗ 228°
zaterdag 07 maart: Min 5.8°C, Max 11.9°C (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.6 mm, Kans op neerslag 2%, 🧭 1029.9 hPa ↗️ +8.8 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 11.2 km/u (3.1 m/s), richting: ↓ 16°
zondag 08 maart: Min 2.3°C, Max 10.8°C (Zonnig) ☀️, Kans op neerslag 2%, 🧭 1033.4 hPa ↗️ +3.5 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 11.0 km/u (3.1 m/s), richting: ← 75°

Details:
• 🌡️ Huidige temperatuur (om 01:15): 10.1°C (Bewolkt)
• 🤚 Gevoelstemperatuur: 7.2°C (-2.9°C)
• 💨 Windsnelheid: 14.4 km/u (4.0 m/s), richting: ↑ 188°
• 🌬️ Windstoten: 27.7 km/h (7.7 m/s)
• 💧 Luchtvochtigheid: 81%
• 🧭 Luchtdruk: 1019.7 hPa ↘️ -0.5 hPa/3h
• 👁️ Zichtbaarheid: 13.8 km
• ☀️ UV-index: 0.0
• 🌅 Zonsopgang: 07:25 · 🌇 Zonsondergang: 18:23

Luchtkwaliteit:
• AQI: 32 🟢 (Goed)
• PM2.5: 7.3 μg/m³
• PM10: 10.4 μg/m³

Gegevens geleverd door Open-Meteo